#HipHopHolidays: Good Kid, M.A.A.D City

Kendrick Lamar is arguably the best rapper of our generation. Hindsight is definitely 20/20, but if you’re into projections, I feel like you could’ve predicted this one, especially after his second studio album.

October 22nd, 2012 was the date Kendrick Lamar released his second studio album Good Kid, M.A.A.D City. To the general public, this was their first introduction to Kendrick because his debut project Section 80 went severely under the radar partly because it was an independent release and was strictly digital.

The album was released via TDE (Top Dawg Entertainment) and had distribution through Interscope. You can tell he was going to be special because on this album, he was getting production co-signs from legends; anywhere from Dr. Dre, Just Blaze, Hit-Boy, Pharrell, T-Minus just to name a few.

Good Kid, M.A.A.D City debuted at #2 on the Billboard 200 chart, selling 242,000 copies the first week. That was the highest first week hip hop sales from a male artist that year. With numbers like that it was no surprise when it was certified platinum a year later.

This was arguably Kendrick Lamar’s best album (depending on who you ask of course). The consensus would say this one or his most recent effort DAMN. For this to be his second studio album and for it to have an impact like it did on our culture is Biggie or Tupac esque (No that’s not a Hot Take). It was a well done concept album and it came at a time where concept albums weren’t really popular because there was a shift in hip hop. The cohesiveness of the album is second to none, and you can thank production for that. All in all, this a certified Classic album and I believe he has at least 1 more classic in him.